Brown originally wrote the book as the thesis project for her Master’s degree in food studies at New York University. She intended it to be a resource for Americans who receive SNAP benefits — Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — which is the official name for the federal government assistance program often known as food stamps. Under SNAP, recipients are given an average of $4 per person, per day to spend on food.

“I was really interested in the SNAP program for a lot of reasons,” Brown tells Business Insider. “I was born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta, and we don’t have food stamps in Canada. That really struck me: There are only 35 million people in all of Canada, so it’s the entire population of Canada, plus 11 million people, living on $4 a day. There’s this whole hidden problem, because it’s so difficult to eat on so little.”

Brown says her cookbook, which features many of her own favorite, go-to recipes, isn’t only for people living on extremely limited budgets, and isn’t meant to encourage people to drastically restrict their food spending. Rather, she explains, it’s a resource to show that anyone can make healthful, varied meals without spending excessively.

Below, take a look at nine of the tips Brown shares in “Good and Cheap” for saving money on food.

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